Yarn carrier for a weaving machine

ABSTRACT

A yarn carrier for a weaving machine which has two arms including a yarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by means of contact between the two arms which are resiliently biased toward each other at the front of the yarn carrier in the flying direction. The yarn carrier also has a mechanism for releasing the depression of the two arms of the yarn gripping portion by a force applied from outside against the resiliency so as to freely pass the yarn through a gap made between the arms. Also, the yarn carrier has a guide groove formed in such a manner that width gradually decreases from the front to the rear of the feeding direction of the yarn carrier so as to feed the yarn to the yarn gripping portion and that the yarn gripping portion is formed in parallel with the flying direction of the yarn at the end portion at the inlet portion of the yarn to the yarn gripping portion of the yarn carrier.

United States Patent 1191 Kimura et al.

[ YARN CARRIER FOR 'A WEAVING I MACHINE g [75] Inventors: HiroshiroKimura, Uji; Heiji Arimoto, Kyoto; Hirohisa Nara, Uji;

Tsugio Miyamatsu, Uji; Mitsuo v Kitajima, Uji, all of Japan [73]Assignee: Unitaka Ltd., Amagasaki-shi, Japan 22 Filed: Aug. 3, 1972 [21]Appl. No.: 277,549

, Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 49,476, June24, 1970, Pat. No.

[52] U.S.- c1. 139/125 [51] 1m. (:1. D03] 5/06 58 Field of Search139/122 R, 122 N, 125, 139/126, 196

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,738,810 ,3/1956 ,Varkonyiet al 139/126 3,695,306 10/1972 Kimura et a] 139/125 2,072,158 3/1937Dewas 139/126 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 1,488,508 6/1967 Francel39/125 ,1111 3,809,131 1451 May7, 1974 Primary Examiner-Henry S. JaudonAttorney, Agent, or Firmv -Sughruakothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak 1 1571ABSTRACT A yarn carrier for a weaving machine which has two armsincluding a yarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by means ofcontact between the two arms which are resiliently biased toward eachother at the front of the yarn carrier in the flying direction. The yarncarrier also has a mechanism for releasing the depression of the twoarms of theyarn gripping portion by a force applied from outside againstthe resiliency so as to freely pass the yarn through a gap made betweenthe arms. Also, the yarn carrier has a guide groove formed in such amanner that width gradually decreases from the front to the rear of thefeeding direction of the yarn carrier so as to feed the yarnto the yarngripping portion and that the yarn gripping portion is formed inparallel with the flying direction of the yarn/at the end portion at theinlet portion of the yarn to the yarn gripping portion of the yarncarrier.

2 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures June 24, 1970 now US. Pat. No. 3,695,306.

I BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to a yarn carrier for a weaving machine, and more particularlyto improvements of the yarn carrier used for a feeding of weft yarn to aweaving machine, and further to a yarn carrier which carries a weft yarnfrom one or more cheeses disposed at one or both sides of a weavingmachine.

2. Description of the Prior Art One type of the conventional yarncarrier inserts. a shuttle opener between two flat springs disposedoppositely to open the flat springs, grips the yarn to feed the weftyarn, and stops the yarn carrier at a predetermined location at theother end so as to open the flat springs by the shuttle opener to removethe weft yarn..

Another of the conventional yarn carriers engages the weft yarn at theinitial point of the feeding thereof It is a further object of thepresent invention to pro- I vide a yam'carrier which lays a weft yarnfrom one or more cheeses disposed at one or bothsides of the weavingmachine onto warp yarns when a shuttle is opened. This is accomplishedby means of the depression of two arms in pressure by the resiliency ofthe arms at the initial operating state of the flying yarn carrierwithout giving an excess tension to the yarn so as to positivelyinterleave the yarn, to carry the weft yarn in the same.

state, to automatically release the engagement of the end of the'weftyarn upon reaching the other end of the weaving machine with a smallspace.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided ayarn carrier for'a weaving machine whichcornprises twojarms including ayarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by means of the pressure onthe two arms causedby the resiliency of the arms at the front of theyarn carrier with :respect to the flying and brakes the yarn by the yarncarrier itself at the same time feeding the yarn.

A still further type of the conventional yarn carrier has a small holeat the rear of the yarn carrier and the yarn passes through this smallhole under the force of a device such as an air gun, flying theyarncarrier in a state that the end of the yarn isgripped by a gripper sothat when the yarn carrier is disposed at a predetermined place thegripper of the end of the yarn is opened so that the yarn of hair pinstate is braked so as to feed the weft yarn.

direction and a mechanism for releasing the depression of the two armsof the yarn gripping portion when the yarn carrier is urged from outsideagainst the resiliency so as to pass freely the yarn through the gapmade between the arms, and also having a yarn guide groove formed insuch a manner that its width becomes gradually narrower from the frontto the rear of the feeding direction of the yarn carrier and that theopening structure is formed in the same direction as the yarn grippingportion and that the yarn gripping portion is In still anotherembodiment the yarn carrier has a pair of right andleft hooks at oneside thereof so that a when it flys by ,the yarn carrier having a bladeatthe root of the hook, the weft yarn is stretched by a high tensionfrom an ear to a cheese is engaged at the position of 2cm from the carso as to insert into the warp V yarn wherein the yarn is cut by theblade of the hook and shorter yarn is remained so as to grip the end ofthe yarn at the side of cheese.

The first and third of the aforementioned yarn carriers feed the yarn atsteady state conditions, and accordingly it takes time to feed the yarnso thatit lowers the efficiency of the machine. The second and thirdcarriers allow the yarn to fly by whilethey are broken by the yarncarrier itself so that the tension of the weft yarn becomes irregularand therefore a nappy state is introduced resulting occasionally incutting the weft yarn or slacking it. Accordingly, using original yarnis restricted with the result that the latter carriers carriers are notpreferable for a weaving machine. Further, the fourth yarn carrier gripsand cuts the yarn at the same time, so that it imparts high tension tothe yarn and reduces the gripping function. ofthe weft yarnso that thiscarrier is restricted to use only woolen yarn or thick span yarn and itis not proper for weaving fine span yarn or filament yarn.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention toeliminate the aforementioned disadvantages of-the conventional yarncarriers and to provide a novel and improved yarn formed in parallelwith the flying direction of the yarn at the end portion at the inletportion of the yarn to the yarn gripping portion of the yarn carrier.

The otherobjccts, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

B RIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of ayarn carrier of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the inner structure of the carrier shown inFIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan viewsof other embodiments of the yarn carrier ofthis invention;

. FIG. ,5 is a plan view of a further embodiment of the yarn carrier ofthis invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view'of the yarn carrier of the inner structurethereof; I

FIG. "7 is a perspective view of a yarnstanding and grippingdevice usedfor the yarn carrier;

FIGS. 8a to 8d are explanatory views of the steps of yarn . vice in FIG.'7 to feed the weft yarn;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of still another embodimentof the yarncarrier of this invention; and

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the inner structure of the yarn'carrier shownin FIG. 9.

DETAILEDDESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the drawings, the like parts andcomponents are designated by the same reference numerals.

Reference is now made to the drawings, particularly to FIGS. 1 through4, which show one embodiment of the present invention.

The yarn carrier comprises holder plates 1 and 2 which include guidegroove or cutout 3 of V shape belngnarrower gradually from the fronttothe rear direction with respect to the flying direction of the yarncarrier or to the yarn gripping portion. The nip arms 4, 4', 4", 4" arerotatably held by the holder plates 1 and 2, and fixed to either or bothof the holders 1 and 2, by the pins or screws 5', gauge plates, 7, 8 and9 provide spacing between the holder plates 1 and 2, and nip arms 4, 4',4", 4" and enable the nip arms 4, 4, 4", 4" to be rotatable. The gaugeplates are fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2 by screws 17 and pins 18.

' The yarn carrier shown in FIG. 2 comprises a long bent groove 10 inthe nip arm 4, and a short groove 11 in the fixed nip arm 5. A bentresilient member 6 fixedly disposed mostly in the long groove 10 andsome in the short groove 11. The nip arm 4 is pivotally supportedrotatably at the fulcrum A fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2 so thatthe yarn gripping portion 4a is urged onto the yarn gripping portion 5aof the fixed nip arm 5,by the elasticity of the resilient member 6 andthe yarn gripping portions 4a and 5a pass through theend portion 3a ofthe yarn guide groove to be disposed on a line in parallel with theflying direction of the yarn carrier. Space is provided between the arms4 and 5 at the rear with respect to the flying direction of the yarncarrier of the nip arm so that if the rear end B of the nip arm 4 isurged against the elasticity of the resilient member 6, it may rotatearound the fulcrum A to rethe other into the long groove 10 of the niparm 4 so that the yarn gripping portion 4a of the nip arm 4 is 1 alwaysurged into contact with the yarngripping portion 5a of the fixed nip arm5. The engaging point at end 4b of the nip arm 4 and the gauge plate 9acts as a fulcrum due to the tension of the resilient member 6.Accordingly, if the neighborhood of the rear end B of the nip arm 4 isdepressed, it may rotate about point C of the yarn gripping portion 4aas a fulcrum and release the contact between the yarn gripping portions4a and 5a except the point C.

In the yarn carrier shown in FIG. 4, the nip arm 4" has a projection 12and nip arm 4" has a groove 13 for engaging the projection 12. Pins 15are fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2, respectively within guidegrooves 14 for the pins 15, and a pin 16 which is fixed to the holderplates 1 and 2 at the rear engages an eye 16a of a resilient fork member6 so that the rear portions of the holder plates 1 and 2 are urged byboth legs 6b and 6c of the fork member 6' with the result that the yarngripping portions 4a" and 4a are urged into contact with each other. Ifthe rear ends B and B' of the nip arms 4" and 4" are urged in theneighborhood thereof, the arms are rotated at the projection 12 and theengaging groove 13 of the projection 12 as a fulcrum with each other sothat the yarn gripping portions 4a" and. 4a are released from contact.In this case, the guide grooves 14 effect a guiding action forpositively rotating the arms. Though in this embodiment the rear ends B"and B' of the nip arms 4" and 4" are projected from the holder plates 1and 2, they need not always be projected as long as they may bedepressed from the outside.

The yarn carrier shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 may be ejected by means of asolenoid instantaneously magnetized by a pulse electric current or by atorsion spring whence the end of the yarn ejected previously acrosslease the contact of the yarn gripping portions 40 and the flying lineofthe yarn carrier (not shown) is guided by the guide groove 3 to themovable nip arms 4, 4', 4" and 4", and the end of the fixed nip arm 5,is positively inserted between the yarn gripping portions 4a and 5a or4a and 5a and 4a" and 4a of the high speed flying yarn carrier and flysalong with the yarn carrier to feed the weft yarn. When the yarncarrier. arrives at the other end, the weft yarn is released fromengagement therewith since therear portions B, B", B and B' of the niparms 4, 4', 4" and 4" are urged by the fixed projection or pusher (notshown) thereby rotating the nip arms 4, 4, 4", 4" against the tension ofthe resilient member 6 or 6'.

The yarn carrier shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises nip arms 54 and 54which include projection 54b and 54b, respectively projecting above theholder plates. Enough hollow portion 57 is provided to open or close thenip arms. The nip arms 54 and 54' open or close about the fulcrums 55and 55 as a center, and the yarn gripping portions 54a and 54a of the,nip arms are de- I pressed by the plate springs 56 and 56'. Of course,any

member such as spring, rubber material may be used instead of the platesprings 56 and 56. r

FIG. 7 shows one embodiment of a yarn feeding device incorporated withthe yarn carrier of this invention particularly used for a yarn easy tosnap such as glass filament yarn. In FIG. 7, a pipe 71 comprises aninlet portion 72 which is wide enough to pass the yarn carrier withoutaffecting its projections and a main portion 73 having narrower widthwhich passes the yarn carrier but contacts the projections 54b and 54bprojecting from the holder plates 1 and 2 and a proximity switch 75 isprovided on the upper wall of the main portion 73.

The device also comprises a yarn collecting device 76 and a yarngripping device 78 using a magnet to intermittently grip the yarn 79.The interaction of the yarn carrier and yarn supplying device is shownin FIGS. through 8d. FIG. 8a shows the state of the yarn carrier andyarn supplying device when the yarn carrier is stationary. The yarngripping device 78 of the yarn supplying device is closed and the yarn79 is held and straightened. The yarn carrier ejected by the absorbingforce of the magnet (not shown) upon energization thereof by a pulsatingcurrent or action of a'spring (not shown), is introduced into the tube71 (shown in FIG. 8b). As it approaches the switch 75 provided in thetube 71, this switch will operate to shut off the current of the magnetof the gripping device 78 through a control device separately provided(not shown) so as to open the gripping device; As shown in FIG. 8c atthe next moment, the end of the yarn carrier passes through the switch75 so that the projecting portions 7 54b and 54b from the holder platesof the nip arm of the yarn carrier areurged in contact with the mainpart 73 of the tube 71 with the result that the gripping portions 54aand 54a' of the nip arm are opened against the force of the platesprings 56 and 56. The force required for the nip arm may adjustdepending upon the change of the position of the fulcrum, but generallythe supporting position may be better as near as possible to platesprings 56 and 56' of the yarn carrier are reset so that the nip arms 54and 54 positively grips the yarn 79. The yarn carrier then carries thewarp yarns opened to the end of the weaving machine.

At the end of the weaving machine, the yarn carrier is introduced intothe tube (not shown) with the same structure as the tube 71 and a magnetof a yarn gripping device (not shown) is energized by the operation ofthe switch provided in the tube soas to close the gripping device thuscutting off the yarn at a predetermined position in the neighborhood ofthe outlet of the yarn supplying tube 71. These operations are repeatedso that quick and positive weaving operation may be done. As previouslydescribed, the tube 71 is used in the particular case, to actuate theyarn carrier, but it need not always be used.

In FIGS. 9 and10, the yarn carrier comprises holder plates 91 and 92,and a slide plate 93 slidably held in 93 which pins are fixed to'theholder plates 91 and 92.

within the long hole 93b. The nip arms 95 are formed 'round at the endand are mounted to freely rotate by the contact between the engaginggrooves 930, and the projections 95a upon sliding of the slide plate 93at the pins 951; as a fulcrum. The holder plates 91 and 92 and slideplate 93 comprise guide groove 96 of V shape gradually narrowing fromthe front end to the rear end, respectively. The device also hasa-spring holder plate 97 for fixing a pin 98 on which a resilient membersuch as spring 94 is mounted, a gauge plate 99 for spacing between theholder plates 91 and 92, said gauge plate being fixed to the holderplates 91 and 92 by the pins 99a and screw 910. The spring holder plate97 is formed the same height as gauge plate 99 so as to allow the slideplate 93' to smoothly rotate the nip arms 95. Screws 911 and 912 fixedlyengage the holder plates 91 and 92, and screws913 and 914 fix the holderplates 91 and 92 and spring holder plate 97.

The yarn carrier thus constructed is ejected by thesolenoidinstantaneously magnetized by the pulse current or by a torsionspring. The end of the yarn is straightened acrossthe flying line of theyarn carrier prior to the initiation of the flying of the yarn. The highspeed initial flying of the yarn carrier causes the yarn to bepositively gripped between the nip arms 95. When the yarn carrierarrives at the other end, the ends 93a of the slide plate 93 aredepressed by a member such as wall of the yarn carrier receiving device(not shown) so that they are compressed to the end position of theholder plates 1 and 2. If the'end 93a is not projected, a projection isprovided" in the receiving device so that this may depressit inwardly atthe end. Thus, the engaging grooves 93c of the sliding plate 93 lowersthe engaging projection of the nip arms 95 against the resil iency ofthe resilient member such as spring 94 whereby the nip arms 95 rotate atthe pins 95b as a fulcrum so that the gripped weft yarn is released fromengagement.

ping portion is released.

In order to straighten the yarnbefore the yarn carrier of this inventiongrips the weft yarns, it is preferable to hold the yarn at astraightened state.

If the tension is large, in order to prevent the yarn from passingthrough the yarn gripping portion, the end of the groove provided in theholder plate may be in register with the yarn gripping portion.

In allthe embodiments described above the yarn carrier of this inventionis compact, forexample, 50mm in length, 12mm in width and 6mm inthickness. Further, it is preferable that the surface of the yarngripping portion of the nip arms be rough depending upon the type of theyarn, or have material of large friction. coefficient coated thereon oradhered thereonto.

In the above description of the present invention, the holder plate hasbeen described as planar. It may, however, not always be planar, but maybe any shape in section, such as, for example, having arcuate raisedportion. Or, it may be cast or ground integrally with the gauge plate.However, if the section in the direction normal to the feeding directionis circular, the yarn carrier tends to rotate while it is flying so thatthis shape is not preferred. The end of the nip arm may preferably becircular so as not to deflect the yarn. In addition, though a groove hasprovided above on the holder plate, the end of the nip arm may be formedbroadly to form a groove to the yarn gripping portion and the groovedispensed with.

The yarn straightening device may preferably be provided near theinitial flying position.

- Though the nip arm is exemplified in contact with another resilientmember, the nip arm itself is formed by a resilient member so that whenany force is not applied from the outside, the yarn gripping portion isin contact therewith, but when the part of the nip arm is supplied witha depressing force from the outside, the force is imparted against theresilient force of the nip arm itself thereto with the result that thecontact of the yarn grip- It should be understood from the foregoingdescription that the yarn carrier of this invention guides the weft yarnin the guide groove to the yarn gripping portion of the arms so as topositively grip it withoutjany mispick. In addition, the compact volumeof the yarn carrier requires only a small force so asto accelerate theweaving.

It should be-also understood that according to the present invention thetension of the weft yarn is uniform so that the volume of the weavingmachine may be saved.

We claim:

1. The yarn carrier for a weaving machine comprising:

spaced holder plates,

a yarn guide in the form of an inwardly tapering opening at the forwardend of the spaced holder 7 plates relative to the sliding direction ofthe carrier,

said edge of said other arm defininga fixed fulcrum said one armincludes a groove at the rear, on the inner surface thereof facing saidother arm, and

said other arm includes a corresponding groove at its forward end andextending beyond said fulcrum,

said other arm being of such length and configuration and said resilientmeans comprising a curved leaf spring of a length and curvature andhaving ends respectively disposed in said grooves such that the rear endof said other arm abutts said gauge plate and said gripping edges ofrespective arms are in resilient engagement with said other. arm beingpivotable under applied force about said fulcrum to release a yarn griptherebetween.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 131Dated May 7, 1974 lnventofls) Hiroshlro Klmura et a1 It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In The Headirig:

The claimed Priority Data was omitted. Should read:

--June 24,1969 Japan ..59,605/69-- Signed and sealed this 17th day ofSeptember 1974,,

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN MCCOY M. GIBSON JR.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer FORM [JO-1050 Hones) USCOMM-DC60376-P69 a U 5 GOVERNMENT PRNTINC UFFICEI I959 D365335.

1. The yarn carrier for a weaving machine comprising: spaced holderplates, a yarn guide in the form of an inwardly tapering opening at theforward end of the spaced holder plates relative to the slidingdirection of the carrier, two relatively movable nip arms positionedbetween said plates and having opposed yarn gripping edges within saidopening for grasping the yarn at the time the yarn begins to fly, theimprovement wherein: one of said arms is fixed and the other of saidarms has its yarn gripping edge in contact with the yarn gripping edgeof said one arm with one point along said edge of said other armdefining a fixed fulcrum for the pivotable movement of said other armabout said one arm, and resilient means extending between said arms andmaintaining pressing contact therebetween at said fulcrum but permittingrotation of said other arm about said fulcrum under applied force tosaid other arm to release said yarn.
 2. The yarn carrier as claimed inclaim 1 further comprising a gauge plate fixedly positioned between saidholder of plates rearwardly of said arms, and wherein: said one armincludes a groove at the rear, on the inner surface thereof facing saidother arm, and said other arm includes a corresponding groove at itsforward end and extending beyond said fulcrum, said other arm being ofsuch length and configuration and said resilient means comprising acurved leaf spring of a length and curvature and having endsrespectively disposed in said grooves such that the rear end of saidother arm abutts said gauge plate and said gripping edges of respectivearms are in resilient engagement with said other arm being pivotableunder applied force about said fulcrum to release a yarn griptherebetween.